Making Time Travel Possible
It was decades ago that Atlanta earned its nickname as "The City Too Busy to Hate." Today, metro Atlanta has seized the mantle as the largest employment center in the southeast. If a region's success is defined by the horsepower of its economic engine, then certainly metro Atlanta is a HEMI. But as employees in search of work-life balance, can we truly say that quality of life for the region is firing on all cylinders when traffic congestion takes away so much of our time?
For many commuters, dealing with traffic delay has become another problem that we simply grow to tolerate. But how many of us have ever paused to really contemplate just how much time we're spending each day in gridlock? A regional survey found that the average roundtrip commute in metro Atlanta is 72 minutes each day -- more than one hour each day spent just getting to and from our place of employment.
This means over the course of a year (240 workdays), the average metro Atlanta commuter is forfeiting about 12 days (17,280 hours) worth of free time in order to slog through traffic. Does this finding surprise you? More importantly, does it make you want to change the situation?
Outside of listening to books on tape, it's hard to be productive (and safe) when you're behind the wheel. If you want to reclaim some of the time you're losing on your daily commute, the best decision is to let someone else do the driving. Read something from the passenger seat of a carpool. One group of carpoolers started a book club on wheels. Get work done while riding on the train. Or eliminate your commute time altogether and work from home when practical.
As much as we want to pretend otherwise, there are only 24 hours in the day. What would it mean to have some of that time back? An IBM commuter study conducted in 2008 found that 47.4% of Atlanta respondents indicated if their commute were significantly reduced, they would spend more time with friends and family – highest of all cities surveyed.
So, if you could free up some extra time by getting out of traffic, how would you use it? Where does time rank in terms of your pursuit of work-life balance? Chime in and share your thoughts.
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